jbauer2485 wrote:I've heard several times already that the walls are 5-10 feet closer in right field (even though the dimension numbers on the wall say the same). The right field deck also has a larger hole in it, which might improve the airflow. I don't think any official sources have done this research though.

So many homeruns have been looking like they would be lazy fly balls, and they just keep going, it's ridiculous.

I think yesterday the wind made it look especially bad but I would definitely place myself in the crowd thinking that right field is not identical to old yankee stadium.

The New York Yankees might have a serious problem on their hands: Beautiful new Yankee Stadium appears to be a veritable wind tunnel that is rocketing balls over the fences.

"With the way the wind has been the last couple of days, right field is a joke," one official said. "I would say at least three or four home runs in this series would be routine outs in nearly every park."

The new Yankee Stadium is just across the street from the old park, but it's not aligned quite the same way as the old Yankee Stadium. In the late-afternoon shadows in the old park, the sun was in the eyes of the left fielder. Now the sun sets into the eyes of the center field and right fielder. Whether or not that's a factor is not known, and it's also possible that the number of home runs hit is directly related to the poor pitching of the likes of Chien-Ming Wang.

But already there have been a number of fly balls that seemed to be routine outs, before almost leaping out of the park. Mark Teixeira lifted a pop to right field off the end of his bat in the first inning Saturday, and players on both teams appeared to be completely surprised when it carried over the wall.

The dimensions of the new Yankee Stadium are the same as the old. The short right-field porch is no more or less inviting. But for whatever reason, balls seem to carry better to right than they did across the street.

A pity that Babe Ruth no longer is with us.

In this park, he might hit 75 home runs.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the MLB on FOX broadcasters before Saturday's game that the demolition of the old stadium will allow the wind from the Harlem River to blow directly into the new one, perhaps creating a jet stream to left-center field to match the one in right and right-center.

Indians manager Eric Wedge said the hitter-friendly conditions should be "pretty evident to everybody."

New Jersey native Mark DeRosa, the Indians' third baseman, said he didn't get a clear sense of how the park would play after taking his first batting practice on Thursday. Playing in a few games, however, has helped him form a definitive opinion.

"It's pretty obvious," said DeRosa, who has homered to both left and right field during the series. "I told Mark Teixeira when I was on first base, that I'd be surprised if he doesn't hit 40 this year."

Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo said a few of the home runs have looked to be routine fly balls off the bat. That is, until he saw them sail into the seats.

Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher said the most noticeable difference so far has been on balls that travel in high, arcing loops.

Generally, he said those types of balls can be difficult to predict. In the new Yankee Stadium, they've been home runs.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told the MLB on FOX broadcasters before Saturday's game that the demolition of the old stadium will allow the wind from the Harlem River to blow directly into the new one, perhaps creating a jet stream to left-center field to match the one in right and right-center.

THE LAUNCHING PAD? Counting the two exhibition games, there have been 25 home runs hit in 43.5 innings at the new Yankee Stadium. While that is a lot, homers are up all over the league. Just a coincidence? Could MLB be juicing the balls to stimulate flagging ticket sales?

Steve over at Was Watching talked to a home-run expert who has some interesting data on the dimensions at the new stadium.

They’re not as exact as the Yankees led us to believe, both in terms of distances and the height of the fences. Several of the players have mentioned the fences being shorter.

Did the Yankees build a launching pad with too many overpriced seats and lousy camera angles? It’s too early to say that but there seem to be some issues in the place, that’s for sure.

THE LAUNCHING PAD? Counting the two exhibition games, there have been 25 home runs hit in 43.5 innings at the new Yankee Stadium. While that is a lot, homers are up all over the league. Just a coincidence? Could MLB be juicing the balls to stimulate flagging ticket sales?

Steve over at Was Watching talked to a home-run expert who has some interesting data on the dimensions at the new stadium.

They’re not as exact as the Yankees led us to believe, both in terms of distances and the height of the fences. Several of the players have mentioned the fences being shorter.

Did the Yankees build a launching pad with too many overpriced seats and lousy camera angles? It’s too early to say that but there seem to be some issues in the place, that’s for sure.

THE LAUNCHING PAD? Counting the two exhibition games, there have been 25 home runs hit in 43.5 innings at the new Yankee Stadium. While that is a lot, homers are up all over the league. Just a coincidence? Could MLB be juicing the balls to stimulate flagging ticket sales?

Steve over at Was Watching talked to a home-run expert who has some interesting data on the dimensions at the new stadium.

They’re not as exact as the Yankees led us to believe, both in terms of distances and the height of the fences. Several of the players have mentioned the fences being shorter.

Did the Yankees build a launching pad with too many overpriced seats and lousy camera angles? It’s too early to say that but there seem to be some issues in the place, that’s for sure.

Great read. That overlay matches exactly what I thought I was seeing in RF.

Yeah, its still surprising to me that official sources haven't picked up on the fact that the stadium does not have the same dimensions (rather, the places where they are marked on the wall are the same as the old stadium). According to that article, right field is between 4-9 feet closer in the new stadium, and this does not take into account the shorter wall, which they state makes the stadium seem a few feet smaller as well. That combined with the new wind current through the stadium and bad pitching = boom.

If you go hittracker.com and sort Home Runs by the number of parks that they would've gone out in, and throw out Bonifacio's Inside the Park HR, of the 12 Home Runs hit which they say should have gone out in 0-2 Parks in the majors, 5 of them were in the new Yankee Stadium. I'm not sure what the #s would be in the old Yankee Stadium, but it's an interesting nugget.

Great read. That overlay matches exactly what I thought I was seeing in RF.

Yeah, its still surprising to me that official sources haven't picked up on the fact that the stadium does not have the same dimensions (rather, the places where they are marked on the wall are the same as the old stadium). According to that article, right field is between 4-9 feet closer in the new stadium, and this does not take into account the shorter wall, which they state makes the stadium seem a few feet smaller as well. That combined with the new wind current through the stadium and bad pitching = boom.

I am not that surprised. Official sources get paid to stick to the company line. Although, unless I am crazy its not to hard to see the difference, so I am pretty surprised it was not even mentioned with all the talk about all the home runs flying out.